Positioning arrangement for components of a pressure vessel and method

ABSTRACT

The positioning arrangement comprises at least one pair of complimentary rounded recesses, each recess being provided on the mating face of the corresponding component. One ball is positioned between each pair of complementary recesses.

CROSS-RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/262,214, filed Oct. 31, 2008 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,181,465 which isa divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/061,608, filed Feb.22, 2005 now abandoned, the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field relates generally to a positioning arrangement forcomponents of a pressure vessel and to a method of positioning twoadjacent components of a pressure vessel.

BACKGROUND

Pressure vessels are often made of two or more components that areconnected together at some point during manufacturing. These componentsgenerally have mating faces that are provided with complementarypositioning elements to ensure that the components are perfectlyaligned. These positioning elements have a number of advantages,including being able to ensure that components are always oriented inaccordance with their design. However, pressure vessels, particularlythin wall pressure vessels, are often prone to high stress concentrationwhen provided with these positioning elements.

In some arrangements, the positioning elements include a cylindrical pinlocated at the interface between the two components being joinedtogether. Cylindrical pins have some limitations and drawbacks. Atfirst, small cylindrical pins are difficult to handle during theassembly and pins manufactured with very small tolerances are expensive.They can also be easily damaged if they are not handled properly. Then,the arrangements require that two perfectly colinear cylindrical holesbe provided in the adjacent surfaces. These holes produce stressconcentrations due to the relatively deep holes that are required andthe sharp edges thereof.

Accordingly, there is a need to provide an improved positioningarrangement for components of a pressure vessel, and a method ofassembling two adjacent components of a pressure vessel, with veryminimal stress concentrations.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, there is provided a positioning arrangement for a gasturbine engine case having a component to be secured to an inner surfaceof the case, the arrangement comprising: a gas turbine engine caseassembly configured to maintain a volume of fluid inside the caseassembly and configured to maintain a pressure difference across aperipheral wall of the case assembly, the wall having an inner surface;at least one pair of complementary recesses provided in mating faces,the recesses forming a rounded space when mated together, one of saidrecesses provided on one of the mating faces on the component and theother recess provided on the mating face on the inner wall of the caseassembly, and one ball matingly positioned within the rounded space ofthe at least one corresponding pair of complementary recesses when thecomponent is mounted to the case assembly.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of assembling a componentto a gas turbine engine case assembly, the method comprising: providinga gas turbine engine case assembly and at least one component to bemounted thereto; providing a first recess in one of the case assemblyand the at least one component; providing a second recess in the otherof the case assembly and at least one component, the two recesses beingcomplementary and forming a rounded space when the two adjacentcomponents are being assembled; and providing a ball between the twocomplementary recesses, the ball having an external shape and size whichsubstantially mate with an internal shape and size of the rounded space.

In another aspect, there is provided a pressure vessel connectionarrangement comprising: a pressure vessel having a substantiallycontinuous wall provided with a recess configured and disposed to face acomplementary recess in a component to which the wall is connected; andone rounded element snugly fitted in a space formed between thecomplementary recesses.

In another aspect, there is provided a positioning arrangement for apressure vessel formed between a gas turbine engine case wall and acomponent to be secured to an inner surface of the gas turbine enginecase wall, the positioning arrangement comprising: a first mating faceprovided on the inner surface of the gas turbine engine case; a secondmating face provided on the component; at least one pair ofcomplementary recesses provided on the mating faces, the recessesforming a rounded space when mated together, one of said recesses ofeach pair provided on the second mating face and the other recess ofeach pair provided on the first mating face, and one ball matinglypositioned within the rounded space of each corresponding pair ofcomplementary recesses when the component is secured to the gas turbineengine case wall.

Further details of these and other aspects will be apparent from thedetailed description and figures included below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Reference is now made to the accompanying figures depicting aspects ofthe improved arrangement, in which:

FIG. 1 schematically shows a generic gas turbine engine to illustrate anexample of a general environment in which the arrangement can be used.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing an example of a pressure vesselwith two different positioning arrangements.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic cross-section view of an example of apositioning arrangement.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged schematic cross-section view of another example ofa positioning arrangement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a gas turbine engine 10 of a type provided for use insubsonic flight, generally comprising in serial flow communication a fan12 through which ambient air is propelled, a multistage compressor 14for pressurizing the air, a combustor 16 in which the compressed air ismixed with fuel and ignited for generating an annular stream of hotcombustion gases, and a turbine section 18 for extracting energy fromthe combustion gases.

A pressure vessel can be generally defined as a hollow structure whichwill be pressurized at one point during its use. This pressure willgenerate internal forces in the material of the structure. Very often, apressure vessel is made of at least two components that are securedtogether using bolts, welds, solders or any other suitable kind offasteners. An example of such pressure vessels is the engine casing ofthe gas turbine engine 10.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example of a pressure vessel 20having two mating components 22, 24 being secured together usingfasteners (not shown). In this case, the pressure vessel 20 comprisesthe walls of a fuel nozzle 100.

To ensure that the mating components 22, 24 of the pressure vessel 20are aligned relative to each other with a very high degree of accuracy,one can uses at least one rounded element, such as a spherical ball 30,which is designed to fit between a pair of opposite complementaryrecesses 32, 34 machined in the mating faces of the components 22, 24,which complementary recesses 32, 34 form together a rounded space inwhich the ball 30 is set. FIG. 2 also illustrates, on the left side, apin 102 similar to the ones used in the prior art.

In the illustrated arrangement, the rounded space and the ball 30 arespherical. Moreover, more than one set of spherical balls 30 andcorresponding spherical recesses 32, 34 can be provided and theirposition is such that during assembly, the components 22, 24 cannot beassembled with a wrong orientation. For instance, the position of thevarious balls 30 can be out of alignment with reference to a line ofsymmetry of the components 22, 24 for this purpose.

The advantages of using balls 30 and corresponding recesses 32, 34 arenumerous. First, the balls 30 are available at low cost with veryaccurate tolerances. They are available in a large number of sizes.Balls 30 can be easily manipulated with equipment devised for balltacking and they can be easily positioned during the manufacturing.These balls 30 are more robust than pins, especially during handling ordropping. Moreover, the rounded recesses 32, 34 in the arrangementproduce a far lower stress concentration in critical areas due to theirsmooth geometry. This is particularly useful in the case of pressurevessels having a thin wall, in which conventional positioningarrangements cannot be used because they can introduce severe stressconcentrations.

If desired, the ball 30 can be partially embedded in a recess 34provided in one of the components, which recess 34 is located deeper inthe corresponding component 34 than the opposite recess 32 of theadjacent component 24. This second component 24 would have only itsrecess 34 shaped as a segment of the geometric form, as illustrated inFIG. 4. Both recesses 32, 34 are thus nonidentical. This is useful, forinstance, if one component is thinner than the other.

It should be noted that FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the components 22, 24,the recesses 32, 34 and the ball 30 having a very large tolerancebetween them. This is only for the purpose of better illustration. Infact, the outside shape and size of the ball 30 is substantiallyidentical to the interior shape and size of the space.

The above description is meant to be exemplary only, and one skilled inthe art will recognize that changes may be made to the embodimentsdescribed without departing from the scope of what is disclosed herein.For example, the improvement is not limited to pressure vessels used ina gas turbine engine. The ball 30 and the corresponding recesses 32, 34can have a rounded shape which is not necessarily spherical, such asovoid, ellipsoid, spheroid, conoid, etc. Still other modifications willbe apparent to those skilled in the art, in light of a review of thisdisclosure, and such modifications are intended to fall within theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A pressure vessel connection arrangementcomprising: a pressure vessel having a substantially continuous walldefining a hollow structure, the hollow structure being on a firstsurface of the substantially continuous wall, a second surface of thesubstantially continuous wall provided with a hemi-spherical segmentrecess configured and disposed to face a complementary hemi-sphericalsegment recess in a component to which the substantially continuous wallis connected; an alignment configuration between the pressure vessel andthe component, in which the hemi-spherical segment recess configured andthe complementary hemi-spherical segment recess are face to face; amisalignment configuration between the pressure vessel and thecomponent, in which the hemi-spherical segment recess configured and thecomplementary hemi-spherical segment recess are not face to face; andone rounded element snugly fitted in a space formed between thehemi-spherical segment recess and the complementary hemi-sphericalsegment recess, the one rounded element ensuring that the hemi-sphericalsegment recess and the complementary hemi-spherical segment recessremain in the alignment configuration.
 2. The pressure vessel connectionarrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein the rounded element is aspherical ball.
 3. The pressure vessel connection arrangement as definedin claim 1, wherein the hemi-spherical segment recess and thecomplementary hemi-spherical segment recess are identical.
 4. Thepressure vessel connection arrangement as defined in claim 1, whereinthe hemi-spherical segment recess and the complementary hemi-sphericalsegment recess are nonidentical.
 5. The pressure vessel connectionarrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein the pressure vessel is a partof a gas turbine engine.